


Halloween Healing

by PhoenixDowner



Series: Zine Fics [6]
Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Disney World & Disneyland, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, Healing, POV Terra (Kingdom Hearts), Post-Kingdom Hearts III, Post-Kingdom Hearts III - Re Mind DLC, Romance, Wayfinder Trio (Kingdom Hearts), Zine: Halloween Hearts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 15:15:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28672827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhoenixDowner/pseuds/PhoenixDowner
Summary: After bringing Sora home, Terra, Aqua, Ventus, and Chirithy take some time to themselves to celebrate at Disneyland. And maybe, at long last, Terra and Aqua will stop putting off the question lingering between the two of them. Written for the Halloween Hearts zine.
Relationships: Aqua & Terra & Ventus (Kingdom Hearts), Aqua/Terra (Kingdom Hearts), Chirithy & Ventus (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: Zine Fics [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1675531
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Halloween Healing

Sora was back, the Master of Masters was defeated, and that meant it was time to celebrate. Mickey had given everyone tickets to Disneyland, and Terra had just the idea about what to do with them. Halloween was coming up soon, and what better way to celebrate than to dress up and go?

“Aqua, Ven, get your costumes ready,” he said with a grin one evening over dinner as he held up the tickets. A hearty lamb stew with carrots and potatoes that they’d spent the day cooking together. After they’d gotten home, Terra and Ven had agreed it was only fair that they learn how to cook and chip in more with the household chores. 

“Our costumes?” Ven said, perking up. “You mean… our Halloween costumes?” 

“That’s exactly what I mean. Halloween’s right around the corner, so I thought it might be fun to put these tickets to good use.”

Aqua’s eyes sparkled, and Terra could practically hear the wheels turning in her head as she started planning and plotting. 

“We should get matching costumes… no, I might be able to sew ones for you two… I’ve already made mine, of course, but I think I’d have enough time to put something together for you two… and of course Chirithy will need something as well…”

“A new costume would be nice,” Chirithy said as it tried to reach for the big bowl of extra soup in the middle of the table. Its little arms weren’t quite long enough, and Ven had to intervene before Chirithy toppled over. 

“We can help!” he said as he caught Chirithy with one hand and spooned another portion of soup into its bowl with the other. 

“But you don’t know how to sew,” Aqua pointed out. 

Terra placed his hand over hers, enjoying her little inhale of breath as he did. “We can learn. You’ve been teaching us how to cook. Just think of it as another part of ‘Life lessons with Master Aqua.’” 

“Yeah, exactly!” Ven said. “Think about how much less mending you’d have to do if Terra and I could do it ourselves. Besides, I do know how to do a few things sewing-related already. The mice on Cinderella’s world taught me how. I just need to brush up on what I learned, and you’d be the perfect teacher.” 

Aqua blushed and smiled. “What’s gotten into you two? You’re being so nice to me.”

Terra exchanged a sheepish glance with Ven. “Are we being nice, or are we finally acting like we should have all along?” he said. 

“Still, it’s very much appreciated,” Aqua said. “Parts of the costumes will be easier than others, and those I can show you how to help me with.”

“Then it’s decided. We’re going to Disneyland,” Terra said.

The next few weeks were a whirlwind of activity. Their days were spent sparring, cleaning, cooking, and sewing. Sleep came easily for all of them at night after a hard day’s work, especially with a fun trip to look forward to. 

The night before the trip, their costumes were ready, their bags were packed, and the anticipation was keeping Terra up. He tried sleeping for about a half an hour before giving up, then crept downstairs to the kitchen to heat himself up a cup of herbal tea. 

He was surprised to see Aqua was already there, carefully packing lunches for them all. Of course. She was always thinking of more things to do, of more ways to help. 

“Here, let me help,” he said as he joined her. 

She smiled. “Thank you. Don’t forget, Ven doesn’t like pickles on his sandwiches.”

“Roger that.”

“And Chirithy likes a little extra ham.” 

Once the lunches were packed and in the fridge, Terra put hot water on the stove. He made two cups of tea and sat down with Aqua at the table, and she thanked him and sipped her tea.

“Disneyland, huh?” he said.

She smiled and nodded. “I can’t wait. This is the first time we’ve gotten to do something fun like this in ages.”

He rested his hand over hers. “You deserve the break.”

“So do you,” she replied, her cheeks flushing pink. 

And maybe, just maybe, with all their duties taken care of, they could think about the two of them. Terra wasn’t sure what their relationship was exactly, but maybe it was time they figured it out. 

He’d put everything else before Aqua for too long, and he wasn’t going to make that mistake again.

* * *

It wasn’t for nothing that Disneyland was called the happiest place on earth. Their little family passed group after group of smiling faces, and a lot of people were dressed up for Halloween too. The entire park had been transformed into a spooky wonderland, and the four of them fit right in.

Aqua had truly outdone herself with the costumes. They were all centered around a pirate theme, Aqua’s with billowing skirts, a headscarf, and long hoop earrings, Terra’s with a captain’s hat, a long trench coat, breeches, and boots, and Ven’s with an eyepatch, a long boot that looked like a pegleg, and a hook he wore over his hand. Chirithy was even dressed as a little pirate parrot. The four of them got compliment after compliment on their costumes, and a few people even asked to take pictures with them. 

After they made their way through the attractions in Adventureland and Frontierland, including Terra’s favorite ride yet, Big Thunder Mountain, they reached New Orleans Square. 

“Okay, which one should we ride first?” Aqua asked as she examined their map. “Pirates of the Caribbean or Haunted Mansion?”

“I kinda wanna ride the Pirates ride for obvious reasons,” Ven said, “but ghosts are fun too.”

Terra checked his Gummiphone. “Looks like the line for the Pirates ride is shorter. Why don’t I get us fastpasses for the Haunted Mansion ride and then we can come back to it later?”

“Sure, we’ll meet you in line for the Pirates ride,” Aqua said. By the time he’d rejoined them, there was only a little bit longer to go before it was their turn. 

Aqua got on their row of the boat first, and Ven practically shoved Terra on after her. There was a mischievous sparkle in his one visible eye when Terra turned around to give him a look, and he hopped onto the ride after them with Chirithy in tow. 

With that, they were off on their adventure with Jack Sparrow. The ride itself was fun of course, but Terra’s eyes kept wandering to Aqua so he could see how she was reacting to everything. Ever since they’d gotten back, her enthusiasm for enjoying each day as it came had increased tenfold. Of course there were days when she still had nightmares and moments where she was on her guard against invisible enemies, but it was clear she had a newfound appreciation for life after returning from the Realm of Darkness. 

When the pirate animatronics began singing, she started singing along with them, as did Ven, and loudly. Terra couldn’t help but join in, spurred on by their enthusiasm. By the time they piled off the ride, they were all in excellent spirits. 

“Who’s ready for some ghosts?” Terra said, and Ven and Aqua both cheered. Chirithy rapidly shook its head, but Ven promised to hold it tight so it wouldn’t be scared. 

“They’re not real ghosts, Chirithy,” Aqua reassured it. “It’s just machines and special effects.” 

“Are you sure?” Chirithy said, casting a doubtful glance at the ride. “I don’t have a very good feeling about this.”

Terra knelt so he could be closer to Chirithy’s eye level. “Trust us, Chirithy, nothing in there compares to the actual ghosts you saw in the Final World.”

“Those weren’t technically ghosts, but okay. I’m trusting you on this.”

With that matter settled, the four of them got in the FastPass Lane. Before long they were nearing the front of the line, and they could make out the conveyor belt where the little cars carrying guests went by. The ride attendants all wore old-fashioned looking teal suits, like they were employees in the mansion back before it had become haunted. 

“How many?” one of the attendants said when it was their turn. 

“Three, er, four,” Terra said, remembering to include Chirithy at the last second. The attendant gave them a quizzical look.

“No pets allowed on the rides—”

“Oh, Chirithy isn’t a pet, Chirithy is a… stuffed animal,” Ven said. Chirithy’s eyes narrowed, but it said nothing. 

The attendant shrugged. “Okay, you two—”

“No, it’s okay, I can ride by myself!” Ven said too quickly as he shoved Terra and Aqua together. “Those two can ride together.” 

Aqua’s cheeks flushed, but she didn’t object to Ven’s suggestion, and the attendant was getting impatient. Terra wasn’t about to object either, so he joined Aqua on the little car, er, Doom Buggie, as it rolled by on the conveyor belt.

“You gonna be okay?” she asked as they settled in and a voice over the loudspeaker told them to keep their limbs inside the ride at all times. “I know that one room of the castle back home always freaked you out.”

“Because of the ‘ghost,’” Terra said with a chuckle. “Trust me, I’ve come a long way since then.” 

Fighting Unversed and then fighting against Xehanort’s control for over a decade had cured him of any fear of ghosts. Not much scared him period… except the possibility of being separated from Aqua and Ven again. 

“Well, just in case,” Aqua said, then shyly found his hand. He gulped and stole a glance at her face, and she was smiling. It was funny how he could face down all kinds of monsters, fight creatures that would give anyone pause, and yet all it took to reduce him to an awkward mess was Aqua holding his hand.

Together they watched the various rooms of the haunted mansion swoop by, making enthusiastic comments and really getting into the whole experience because why not be fun and silly after years of being stoic and serious? Near the end of the ride, as they passed by a set of mirrors on the wall, they even picked up a few ghosts, the so-called Hitchhiking Ghosts—a prisoner, a skeleton, and a traveler. 

Aqua giggled into her free hand, and he gave her other hand a squeeze. Her eyes met his, and she leaned against his shoulder. 

“Don’t let go.”

“I won’t.” 

He didn’t let go as they got off the ride, and he didn’t let go when Ven grinned and teased them about it as they exited into the gift shop. He didn’t let go as he dug around in his pocket for some munny for Chirithy to buy some special Haunted Mansion-themed candy, and Aqua didn’t let go either.

When they finally emerged in the early afternoon sun and had gathered their things, he said, “Looks like it’s time for lunch. Ven, why don’t you take Chirithy to that area by Tom Sawyer’s Island so you can eat your food and then check it out?”

“What, so you and Aqua can go off somewhere?”

“That’s the idea,” Aqua said with a twinkle in her eye.

They made arrangements to meet at the next attraction in an hour, and then it was just the two of them. A first date on Halloween, all dressed up in their pirate costumes, a nice fall breeze blowing through the air, the smell of candied apples and caramel popcorn and pumpkin drinks wafting by… 

Not a bad time for a first date. 

Aqua found his hand again. “Where to?”

“Wherever you’d like to go.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! This was written for the Halloween Hearts zine! Thank you so much to the mods and other participants, I had a lot of fun writing this piece, and you were all so supportive!


End file.
